Grays Ferry

Grays Ferry is a neighborhood in south Philadelphia bounded by 25th Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vare Avenue on the south, and Grays Ferry Avenue on the north. It developed near an important river crossing, and it was named for Provincial Assemblyman George Gray, who took over the 17th century ferry in 1747. It went on to become one of the largest Irish-American enclaves in the city, and it later also acquired a significant African-American population.